Electricity conductor unit



P 10, 1945. J. F. oBRlEN .ELECTRICITY CONDUCTOR UNIT Filed July 25, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheetl 2 INVENTOR Ph Brien Pg0: ...an

ATTORNEY' t Patented Api-.10, 1945 ELECTRICITY CONDUCTOR UNIT Joseph F. OBrien, Jersey City, N. J., assigner to John B. Pierce Foundation, corporation of New Yori:

Application July 25, 1941, Serial No. $03,978

New York, N. Y., a

a Leinem. (ci. 17a-334.1)

This invention relates to electric wiring' systems, and particularly to wiring systems embodying seriatim interconnected units adapted i'or surface installation on a wall or the top of a baseboard or like structural trim.

It is an object of the invention to provide electricity conductor and connector units having im-A proved facilities for the seriatim interconnection thereof.

It is an`obiect of the invention to provide an electric wiring system in which the electrical and mechanical connection of adjacent units maybe made from the front of .the unit. with means for the complete enclosure of adjacent units over a subtsantial area beyond the point of interconnec tion thereof.

It is an object of the invention to provide im# proved clamp means for the electrical interconnection of conductors of adjacent units.

Fig. 9 is a perspective of the bus bar and conductor clamp means oi the connector unit.

In `Figure 1, the portion of a wiring system shown compriseselectricity conductor units it, it, with alternately positioned connector units i2,' it. The wiring system is illustratively positioned on the top of a baseboard it, and may be capped by a conventional molding strip i5. Said molding strip and baseboard are fragmentarily shown. j

. The conductor unit i@ may have a base i5 and ay removable .cover il secured thereto by machine screws or equivalent it, see Fig. 3. Cover and base may be molded from electrical insulation material to have any suitable plurality of registering transverse walls i9, ita each being grooved to conne and insulatedlv support a suitable plurality oi electricity conductors todo. It will be noted that the mating walls at each end of each It is an object of the invention o provide an conductor nit 'it denne acompletely closed end electricity connector unit for interconnecting adjacent conductor units. having improved means for securing the conductorstherein against accidental displacement during installation and'ior maintaining. the rigidity thereof during use.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear. f

In the accompanying '-f l i.:

Fig. 1 is an vation oi' a portion of an elec, tric wiring sy according to the present in'- vention, run on the baseboard or the wall of a room, said baseboard being shown iragmentarily to reveal the otherwise concealed securement devices;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section of a portion of the wiring system, looking in the direction oi' the arrows at 2 4;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the portion I of the wiring system shown in Figure 2, with the cover member of the left-hand conductor .unit

removed, and the cover member oi' the connector unit removed to show the ement of the conductors and clamping means therein;

Fig. e is a rear view of the cover memberof the connector unit of Figure 3;

Fig. 5 is an elevation of the connector unit taken through 5.5 of Fis. 1':

v Fis. 6 is an elevation of the connector unit taken through tof Fis. l;

- Fig. '7 is an elevation ci' the connector unit taken through l-- of Fig. 1;

' Fig. 8 is an elevation" similar to Fim?, but

illustrating an alternative method 9i securement ot the wiring system; and

wall, and that each end, si, oi each conductor unit lo is of reduced dimension to provide a three-sided stepped extension oi substantial length, over which an extending end of the cover so of the connector unit fits snugly for complete en..

closure of such end portion.

The conductors 2t may be tubes or rods or conductive material; manufacturing economies are effected by employing solid conductors, i. e.. rods,

. width of the projecting ends 2i `of the units it.

and a thickness which desir-ably positions the inner surface of such base in the same plane as an inner surface of the base ifof the unit It. The base 22 has at each of its ends a transverse wall 23, desirably having grooves 2li. 2d to receive the conductors 20, and a central longitudinal wall 2d coextensive with the base. The removable cap it of the `unit i2, also of insulation material, has end portions or eaves 2, 2l which are adapted to envelop the ends 2i of the conductor units lo .i abouthree vsides thereof, as previously stated. To complete the enclosureof the conductors .at the Junctures of units l0 and I2, thebas'e member oi' unit lo may have a projecting toe 28, to extend into a suitable pocket formed in the base 22 of the unit Il. The unit i2 is illustrated as having outlet provisions. pursuant-to which the cap member has paired apertures 2 0, 2i, desirably bounded by 26 and engage the sides thereof, thereby keying the cover 26 positively to the base 22. Disposed beneath said apertures when the housing and base of the connector I2 are arranged in ultimate position, said base has pockets 32 to accommodate the ends of the blades of an electric attachment plug.

Referring to Fig. 9, the conductor 33 of the unit I2 is desirably an angle-shaped stamping of copper or brass, on the vertical wall of which may be riveted o r welded contact clips 34, 34 when the connector unit is provided with electric attachment facilities. Immediately beneath such contacts 34 are openings 35, 35 of suitable width to permit the passage of the bladesof an electrical attachment plug therethrough and into the pockets 32 in the base 22. Desirably intermediate the contacts 34, the base of the conductor 33 may have a plurality, illustratively two, of downwardly extending lugs 36; said lugs extend into and llt snugly within holes provided in the base 22, to frictionally secure the conductorse33 on the base t member 22 and prevent displacement thereofduring installation in a vertical plane.

The grooves 24 in the transverse walls 23 of base 22 and the similar grooves inend walls 23a ofcap 26 register with the intersection of the vertical and horizontal walls of the angle-form conductors 33; the base grooves guide the conductors 26 of an adjacent unit into preferred position for securement to the conductors 33. v

At each end of the conductors 33 there is provided a clamp member 31, desirably of elongate U-shape, stamped from relatively heavy metal.

i The length of the clamp 31 is suitably less than the extent of projection of a conductor 26 into the unit l2, and the end walls of such clamp adjaasvasai vent accidental displacement. The machine screw may, therefore, be inserted and made fast wholly from the frontoi' the unit.

Securement of the runl of units to the wall of the room may be accomplishedl by the mounting clips 4I, one or both of the wings of which may be perforated for the passage of a wood screw or like fastening device. suitably rigid support. however, may be had by inserting the'lowermost wing 4 I a intermediate the baseboard and the wall aseshown in Figure 1, and by securing ythe up- -per wing 4lb to the studding or wall structure by a wood screw.

The molding strip I5 fully conceals such upper wing 4 Ib and its screw fastenrieferring to Figures s and s, it win be noted that the base 22 of connector unit. I2 is formed with extending lugs 42, 'over which fingers 43 of the clips 4I fit in gripping relation therewith. As Figure 5 shows, the extent of outward projection of the lugs 42, plus thegthickness of the ingers 43, equals the width ofthe cap member 26, whereupon the unit with its assembled clips 4I is without break or offset which would interfere with the positioning of the4 unit on the baseboard, or the fit of the molding strip I5 thereon.

It will also be noted from Figure 5 that the vertical thickness of the lugs 42 is less than the thickness of the'base portion, so that a substancent the intersection of the walls of conductor 33 are notched or otherwise angularly cut away to engage the conductor 26 and crowd it into ent gagement with the conductor 33 at the vertex, i. e., the intersection of the walls, thereof. As

ShOWn in Fisr5, a three-'point contact is made, l-A" including the contact of the clamp 31 with the conductor 26. A machine screw or equivalent may be employed as the clamping agent. and as Fig. 5 shows, the 4depth of the end walls and the notches therein affords considerable latitude as to the thickness or diameter of the conductors 26. The downwardly extending end walls have the additional attribute of keeping the hat. central portion of clamp 31 suitably above the base ofV conductor 33 to facilitate the positioning of the conductor 20 beneath the clamp 31. The wide spacing' between the end walls of th n clamp and the position of the machine screw centrally therebetween insures adequate electrical connection between the conductors 2l and 33, as well as enhancing the'strength of the joint.

Optional means are provided for the mechanical interconnection of adjacent units and for the securement of a run of units to the wall of a room. According to the embodiment of Figures l through 3, mechanical interconnection of adjacent units. additional to the connection ail'orded by the clamping means, is effected by a machine screw and nut 46, which pass through registering openings in the cave 21 of the cap 26 and the extension2l of a imit I6. The nut of such fastening means is preferably housed within a polygonalpocketinthebasemember lioi'theunit ",desirablywithaiamtinmchpockettopretial overlap is provided between the side walls of the cap and the upper and lower edges of the base portion. Preferably said cap telecsopes over the base portion with a. snug iit, thereby minimizing possibility of ingress of dirt or iniiow of water into the unit in the areas occupied by the clips 4|. It lwill be understood, see Fig. 4, that the cap 4 member 26 has suitable recesses 44 to accommo- 4 date the fingers 43 of the clips. y

lifhereV it may not be desirable to employ the clips 4I, as where the run of units is exposed on a wall, a. wood screw 45 may besubstituted for the bolt and nut organization 46, see Fig. 8.

The mechanical joint between the conductors 33 of the unit I2 and the conductors 26 of unit I0 is of great strength. The inherent rigidity of the angle-,form conductor 33, and the length of engagement of the clamping means 31 and the two-point contact thereof with a conductor-20, which such conductor 26 is crowded against the vertex of conductor 33, eliminates possibility of bending, and any outward pull on the conductors 33, as in the circumstance wherein an un- Y usually tight itting attachment plug is being conductors .of such conductors 26 with the end wall apertures through which they pass prevents outward displacement of the conductors 26 or 33 during such withdrawal operation. The conductors 33 are additionally rmly secured to the base 22 of the unit I2 by the lugs 36; and it will be noticed that the conductors 33 are thereby secured at each side of thepairsof contact clips 34, and at opposite edges of the base portion of the conductors 33. This four-point attachment and staggering of the points ofl securement enhance the rigidity of the conductor structure 33.

In assembling the units on the 22 oftheconnectorunit I2maynrstbepositioned, whereupon a unit Il maybe placed in adjacency thereto, with the extending ends of the job, vthe 26 thereof guided into position beneath thefclamps 31 by the grooves 24 accesar notches in said clamp. The clamp screws may then be tightened up and after e. second run unit IB has been similarly placed in position, thecover member of the connector unit I2 may be fitted over the assembly and made secure by the screw` and nut organization 40 at each end thereof.

It is seen, therefore, that the installation of this wiring system is exceedingly simple, in that all operations of connection, etc., are made from thefront and in full view of the installer. Theclamping means 31, engaging the conductors 2t ing said conductors into contact with the conductors 33 at the juncture of the angle-forming walls thereof insure proper electrical interconnection of the respective umts. l

Whereas I have described my invention by ref- In a unit'ofv anelectric wiring system embcdying a series of units electrically connected at two relatively widely spaced points, and urgerence to specic forms thereof, it will be under.

which one 4element rests upon said base and the other element extends upwardly therefrom, spring contact means secured to said conductor on the vertical element thereof, and clamping l means of'elongate inverted U-shape being ad- ',lustably secured to said electricity conductor at the end-portion thereof, end walls of said clampina' means b eing notched to define in cooperation with the angular elements ci' said conductor, an aperture, the area of winch is a function of the position of the .clamping means relative tothe conductor, said notch inthe end wall ot the base member being substantially in registry with the.

` aperture deiined by the conductor and the clamping means, and cover means for said base. said cover having an aperture in registry with the contact means.

one with the other, `at least one of said units havingv spaced. electricity conductors extending from an end thereof, connector means for the' electrical connection and securement to said unit, thesaid extending conductors of an adjacent unit;

each said connector means comprising a member' having at one end, rigid, electrically conductive walls ymeeting in angular relationship, and clamping means for cooperation with said member at the angle-formed end thereof, said clamping means comprising a rigid, dat, body structure having downwardly depending end walls, said end Walls being angularly cut away at their lowermost corner adjacent the intersection of the walls of said angle-formed member to define-with said last-named walls, an 'aperture through which one of the said .extending conductors may pass; the said end walls, in'the absence of such electricity conductor, supportingv the-said iiat body structure above one of the walls of said anglefcrmed member to facilitate the insertion of such electricity conductor therebeneath;v and means for adiustably securing said clamping means to said member.

8; Connector means for an electricwiring device, comprising the combinationwith a structure having intersecting walls, at least one of which is electricallyl conductive, of a clamping member having a at, rigid body portion disposed in parallelism with one of the walls of said conductor and a substantially vertical end wall of which a side and bottom edge are substantially parallel to the respective intersecting walls, said vertical end wall normally resting upon one of said intersecting Walls to support the body portion 'in sced relationship thereto; and binding. screw means for moving said clamping member toward cc said angle-form structure to decrease the size of the said aperture and thereby clamp such inserted conductor into tight contact with the clamping member andy the -said angle-formed walls.

JOSEPH F. O'BRIEN. 

